Inconsistencies on offense plagued the USU-Eastern Eagles as they suffered their fifth consecutive Scenic West Athletic Conference loss, this time falling to the Salt Lake Community College Bruins 86-76 Tuesday evening on the road.

Shooting a pedestrian 34-percent from the field in the first half, the Eagles were faced with an 11-point deficit at half time. The offensive struggles continued in the first three minutes of the second half, which led to Salt Lake taking their largest lead of 19 midway through.

Sophomore Cam Bailey recorded a double-double finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds in the loss. Freshman Quinn Peters posted a team-high 14 points and Roman McNight scored 12 as the Eagles dipped to 0-5 in conference play.

As a team the Eagles finished just 38-percent from the field, and 21-percent from the three-point line. Adding to the team’s offensive struggles, the Eagles ended minus-two in assist-to-turnover ratio at 15-17.

Cooper Holt and Ke’Sean Davis led a potent Salt Lake bench performance as they combined for 36 points in reserve roles. Christian Gray was the lone starter to reach double-figures, finishing with 12 points and two blocks.

The Bruins managed to take advantage of USU-Eastern’s zone defense from the perimeter with 11 makes from downtown. Holt and Davis combined for seven of those makes as Salt Lake’s bench outscored USU-Eastern’s 47-27.

Tuesday’s win for Salt Lake improves their conference mark to 4-1, putting them just one game in the loss column behind Snow College for first place in the SWAC. The loss puts the Eagles at 0-5, and keeps them one game back of Colorado Northwestern for fourth place.

The Eagles will return to action on Thursday as they continue their four game road trip against Colorado Northwestern in Rangely. Following Thursday’s game USU-Eastern will return home for back-to-back road games against Snow College and Southern Idaho.

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